Sam Raimi wanted Anne Hathaway for "Spider-Man 4"

Tobey Maguire & Kirsten Dunst are back in the follow-up to Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 2 (2004), directed by Sam Raimi. This time around Spider-Man must face three villains: Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Venom and New Goblin (James Franco). Also, Peter Parker (Maguire) gets exposed to a poisonous extraterrestrial substance that brings out his dark side.

The director helmed the original three 'Spider-Man' movies - which starred Tobey Maguire and came out between 2002 and 2007 - and has revealed he was keen for the Oscar-winning actress to take on the role of Felicia Hardy/Black Cat in the fourth installment.

However the film never got made and Anne went on to play Catwoman in the new Batman movie 'The Dark Knight Rises'.

He told Vulture: ''I didn't get to see Batman yet, because I've been working non stop... but I hear she's great in it. I'm not surprised, because I loved what she was doing with the auditions for 'Spider-Man 4.'''

Sam says he was keen to make 'Spider-Man 4' because he wanted to redeem himself as he wasn't happy with 'Spider-Man 3'.

Asked why the project never got made, Sam explained: ''It was simply that we had a deadline and I couldn't get the story to work on a level that I wanted it to work. I was very unhappy with 'Spider-Man 3', and I wanted to make 'Spider-Man 4' to end on a very high note, the best 'Spider-Man' of them all.

''But I couldn't get the script together in time, due to my own failings, and I said to Sony, 'I don't want to make a movie that is less than great, so I think we shouldn't make this picture. Go ahead with your reboot, which you've been planning anyway.'''